


warm stardust

by miiniwa



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-06 02:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10323086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miiniwa/pseuds/miiniwa
Summary: Now that I think about it, senpai has always kind of been just...there. Within reach, Midori sighs, deciding now not to deny the fact that his constant listlessness just might be due to the lack of Chiaki's presence, something he had wanted to keep denying for just a while longer.





	

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE READ!!! : The fic is split into three parts, with each part basically standing as their own little fic bit, so **none of the parts are directly related to one another**. Basically they are little fic pieces that never got a proper home so I just combined them all together as a fic dump kind of thing sobs.

Most days, Midori has been able to do his best, ever since the graduation of the former third years, and ever since they had left them with their inspiring words and memories.

 

Some days, Midori finds that it's difficult to be completely himself, difficult to act like normal when he notices that certain things — _certain people_ — aren't around as often as he would like them to be.

 

Of course, Chiaki and Kanata had made it their personal goal to visit whenever they had the time, but even so, there had been things that just wouldn't be the same, such as their lack of wearing the school uniform Midori had been so used to seeing them in, or the way they would have to leave all of a sudden due to other plans, another sour reminder that they had already graduated.

 

_Now that I think about it, senpai has always kind of been just...there. Within reach_ , Midori sighs, deciding now not to deny the fact that his constant listlessness just might be due to the lack of Chiaki's presence, something he had wanted to keep denying for just a while longer.

 

He sighs again, wondering how long he could keep blaming Chiaki for it all.

 

Midori flops down onto his bed, gaze set on the ceiling, not feeling sleepy in the slightest, when he hears a sharp knock on his window.

 

He jolts in his spot, heart suddenly beating a hundred times per second as he quietly stands up, soundly convinced that whatever is at his window, at two in the morning, can only be something that wants to hurt him.

 

Midori cringes, grabbing onto the largest stuffed animal on his bed as he quietly inches towards his window, briefly wondering if he should go get some of the daikons from his kitchen, for self defense, or if he should just run out of the house completely.

 

_My chances of survival...are probably less than one percent_ , Midori thinks to himself, eyes squeezing shut as he uses his free to hold onto his curtain and move it to the side, with his other hand slamming the large stuffed penguin against the glass, out of thoughtless impulse.

 

There's a short shout of surprise from the other side of the window, and Midori opens his eyes at how familiar, irritatingly familiar, it seems to sound.

 

_It's senpai_ , Midori realizes, expression dull as he stares ahead at Chiaki, who is, for whatever reason, standing outside his window in the middle of the night.

 

"Why are you here?" Midori asks, opening the window to allow Chiaki to climb in, some of the cold night air accompanying him, and he shivers a little.

 

"For a second...I thought I was gonna die when I saw this guy's face on the window," Chiaki comments, ignoring his question as he picks up the stuffed penguin, which Midori had dropped on the floor during the short ordeal.

 

"...I thought I was going to die when I heard someone knocking on my window in the middle of the night," Midori says, watching as Chiaki gently places the stuffed penguin back on the bed.

 

"And this is my second time asking, but why are you here?" Midori questions again, arms crossed.

 

Chiaki glances up at the ceiling, looking briefly thoughtful.

 

"I don't know. I saw the stars outside, and then I felt like seeing you," Chiaki says with a short shrug, and Midori can't help but think that he would never be able to say something like that to anyone.

 

And then, he realizes that Chiaki had basically just told him that he had thought of him, that Midori hadn't been the only one feeling oddly off every once in a while, and he feels his chest swell slightly, probably happiness.

 

"But at two in the morning?" Midori finally speaks up, holding up his phone, and Chiaki smiles in response.

 

"Yeah," he replies, completely honest, and Midori stares at him reluctantly.

 

"Oh, and I brought food too," Chiaki says, holding up a paper bag, meat buns that he had most likely purchased from one of the 24-hour convenience stores.

 

Midori sighs, walking over and sitting down at the small table in the middle of his room, feeling somewhat stubborn as Chiaki grins and sits down after him.

 

They spend the next couple hours munching on the meat buns Chiaki had brought, making small talk about the things happening around the school and with the other units, and then sitting around while trying to point out the constellations from Midori's window.

 

It's four in the morning when Midori finds himself lying down on his bed, with the stuffed penguin pressed against his chest, and Chiaki pressed comfortably against his side, the two of them finally feeling half-asleep.

 

"I was kind of annoyed at first, but I guess I'm happy that you showed up out of nowhere," Midori admits, thinking back to the couple hours prior to that moment, when he had seen Chiaki's startled face at his window, half lit up by moonlight, half lit up by the light from his own room, and looking more hero-like than Midori could have remembered.

 

"And that's because?" Chiaki questions, nearly just as sleepy as he props himself up onto his elbows, eyes only half open.

 

"Because you're here," Midori mutters, eyes closing for a few seconds, blaming his current honesty on the fact that he's too sleepy to think of anything else.

 

"Because I'm here," Chiaki repeats after him, grinning, and it seems to set a string of feathers within Midori's chest, lightly fluttering.

 

_I wonder if it's okay to feel selfish about this_ , Midori thinks, fingers absent-mindedly threading through Chiaki's fringe, before red eyes stare curiously back at him.

 

"I'm going to sleep," Midori declares, turning to the opposite side.

 

"Okay, guess I'll do the same then," Chiaki replies, with a short, gentle laugh, and Midori can't help but feel that's it's such a nice thing to hear that late at night.

 

And just like that, Midori quietly falls asleep, with Chiaki situated comfortably at his back, dreaming of the moon and soft, red-colored stardust.

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

To Midori, almost everything about Chiaki has always seemed to be blatantly gentle, those words being his best attempt at describing how he acts sometimes.

 

From the way Chiaki would lightly ruffle his hair in the mornings, to the way he would hum softly while standing at the sink whilst washing dishes, all seemed gentle and warm in Midori's eyes, almost overwhelming, and Midori had found himself wanting to hold onto that aspect in whatever way possible.

 

That's why, as the two of them are walking back from school, with snow falling quietly around them, Midori has the sudden urge to hold onto Chiaki's hand, which is, to him, one of the greatest sources of kindness and warmth.

 

_That's embarrassing though_ , Midori thinks, hastily glancing away, because he could already imagine Chiaki lightly teasing him about it, all the way home.

 

_But, still_ , he looks on ahead of him, taking note of the tiny bits of snow that had fallen on Chiaki's hair and scarf, and how the color of his locks just seemed to look a little brighter in particular.

 

_I want to_ — _hold his hand._

 

Midori thinks to himself, and it's one of the last thoughts that floats in his mind before he finds himself reaching outward and grabbing onto Chiaki's hand, much warmer than he had anticipated.

 

Chiaki turns his head to face him, a curious expression on his face, and Midori pales when he realizes what had just happened.

 

"Ah— senpai, this"—

 

"Huh? Were you cold, Takamine?" Chiaki asks him, casually, as if Midori grabbing onto his hand had been some type of normal impulse, as if holding hands with someone whom he could maybe consider as more-than-a-friend was just _fine_.

 

It's the bunched up feelings of confusion and embarrassment that cause Midori to sink down to the floor, hand still clutching onto Chiaki's, because he can't bring himself to just let go.

 

"A little bit," Midori finally manages to answer, head hanging low.

 

"Let's hurry then, so that you don't get sick," Chiaki tells him, his free hand reaching down to casually brush off the bits of snow that had caught in Midori's hair.

 

"...Yeah," Midori mutters, feeling stubborn, and undeniably defeated, as he stands up and follows after Chiaki, because throughout that conversation, Chiaki hadn't let go of his hand in the slightest.

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

"Whoa, I never knew potatoes came out all bunched up like that from the ground," Chiaki declares, eyes shining as he watches Midori pull the vegetables from the soil.

 

"Hey, were you at least paying attention to how it was done?" Midori questions, picking up the potatoes and brushing the soil off before placing it in the bucket near them.

 

"Huh? Oh, uh, like this, right?" Chiaki asks, brows furrowing as he tugs at the grass, roots coming up before a couple of potatoes sprawl out onto the ground, and Midori sighs.

 

"You can just take care of brushing the dirt off and putting them in the bucket, senpai," Midori tells him carefully, with Chiaki breathing out a couple laughs, before he looks over and notices the smile on Midori's lips, just barely there.

 

Chiaki turns back to face the ground in front of him, deciding to distract himself with collecting the potatoes, suddenly feeling grateful that he had volunteered to help Midori and his parents out with some of the vegetable harvesting that season.

 

Even so, despite trying to distract himself, Chiaki can't help but glance over every so often, at the image of Midori working slightly harder than usual to pull roots from the ground, because it's definitely not something he gets to see often.

 

His breath lightly hitches, noticing that the little smile on Midori's face is still there, and he wonders if Midori is even aware of it.

 

"Takamine."

 

_Oh, crap_ , Chiaki blinks in surprise, glancing away on instinct.

 

"Um, last time, when strawberries were in season, you guys all picked strawberries without me, right?" Chiaki questions, brushing the soil off from the potatoes, in weak attempts to distract himself from the sudden heat he feels across his face.

 

"Hm? Yeah, it was kind of tiring," Midori replies, despite the brief, reminiscent glimmer in his eyes.

 

"Next time, let me help pick the strawberries too, okay?" Chiaki says, smiling over at him, and Midori raises a brow.

 

"Sure," he replies.

 

"Takamine," Chiaki says again, in a sharper tone this time, and Midori jumps in his spot, dropping a couple potatoes on the ground.

 

"What, senpai?" Midori asks, a slightly annoyed furrow to his brow.

 

"You know, I, uh, wouldn't mind helping you pick strawberries for the rest of our lives," he tells him, avoiding eye contact, something he doesn't normally do, and Midori takes a few seconds to admire that moment.

 

"Or potatoes either. For the rest of our lives," Chiaki says, slightly fragmented, and reluctantly looking over to watch for Midori's reaction.

 

"Oh, so you want to become a greengrocer. I had no idea," Midori nods, reaching over to pick up the potatoes.

 

"Wha— no, that's not it"— Chiaki starts, sighing as he stares up at the sky, trying his best to form the right words in his head before he speaks, but it's not something he's entirely used to.

 

Meanwhile, Midori is doing his best to maintain his composure, or rather, however much of it had been left, because although he had subconsciously been trying to deny it all, he had caught onto the actual meaning behind Chiaki's words, sooner than he would have liked, and it sets an inevitable weight in his chest.

 

_And doesn't 'for the rest of our lives' sound more like a **proposal**?_ Midori thinks, nearly dropping the potatoes again.

 

"Takamine, I"—

 

Midori flinches at the sound of his name, and at the sound of Chiaki's voice, before he turns back to face him again, feeling even more embarrassed when he spots the tinge of dark pink coloring Chiaki's face.

 

"I don't want to be a greengrocer," Chiaki tells him, gaze somewhat intense as he says it.

 

"...That's fine," Midori mutters back, after taking a few seconds to process the fact that he had actually said that.

 

"When I saying all that stuff earlier, I was, um, kind of trying to— ask you out," Chiaki finally manages, eyes squeezing shut for a moment before he looks over at Midori again, eyes brighter than ever.

 

"I— okay," Midori says, realizing that now, he's the one at a loss on what to say, and he almost wants to stand up and run away at how awkward he is.

 

"Okay?" Chiaki repeats, head tilting to the side.

 

"Okay," Midori says again, hand reaching over to touch Chiaki's, and they both flinch quietly at the touch.

 

"Ah, but I wasn't lying when I said I would help you pick vegetables for the rest of our lives," Chiaki speaks up, oblivious, and Midori blushes a bright, bright red as he reminds himself of the connotation, which Chiaki still probably hadn't caught onto.

 

"Stop with that already, senpai," Midori sighs, pressing his forehead against Chiaki's shoulder, where everything just feels right.

**Author's Note:**

> when i was writing the last bit, i was like, 'oh man, this actually seems kind of romantic,' but then i remembered their setting... aka soil and dirt and potatoes everywhere. also, i stuck this in the beginning, but for anyone who happened to miss the first note, all three parts were unrelated to each other. lastly, thank you for anyone who read this until the end!
> 
> most active at: https://twitter.com/kuuroken


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